Sunday, November 27, 2011

Partner cut my hair this week. I think he learned a lot about cutting hair. Such as to only cut a little at a time, and to take it slow. I wanted it about two inches below my shoulders but it ended up just on my shoulders. I like it anyway. It feels good; he took off a good eight or ten inches and my head feels so much lighter. My hair isn't dragging me down any more.

It also means I can go back to my pin curl set. You read that right: I like to set my hair in pin curls. I love that Rita Hayworth look but it needs shorter hair. Shoulder-length is just about right.

Today I climbed back up on the garage roof for another patch job. Remember the last one--more than two years ago now? Not such a nice day for it this time, but it had to be done. With the wind whipping, I had a few precarious moments climbing on and off the ladder, but all's well that ends well. Partner wants to replace the entire roof with semi-transparent corrugated plastic; that's definitely a summer job. A big summer job.

It being Thanksgiving, Partner, Franklin, and I celebrated very quietly with lots of turkey and pie. In fact, the next day we even had turkey pie--all the leftover veg and some turkey in a white sauce, topped with mashed potato and baked for about half an hour. Partner's specialty, and quite superb.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Here it is! It's a double breasted overcoat, around size 2T (big on Franklin, who is still in 18 month size). The coat is made from a 75% wool, 15% cashmere, 10% nylon blend, and is lovely and soft and warm. It's also fully lined with a 55% cotton, 45% polyester lining, and has eight big buttons.I added about ten inches of ease in the body of the coat, and five inches of ease in the sleeves. I also added an extra four inches length to the sleeves. This is a good coat for growing in!The original coat was diplomatically called an old lady coat by Partner:And the lining was one of Partner's old dress shirts:Franklin's coat has a total of three functioning pockets: two welt pockets and an inner patch pocket. It also has a little loop sewn on the inside collar so it can be hung up easily on a hook.Before I cut out the new pieces from the old coat, I ripped out the original lining. I dislike acetate linings; I find coats can get too hot and sticky with that kind of lining, because acetate doesn't breathe. The new coat has the added bonus of being machine-washable, too.

Monday, November 14, 2011

Franklin's winter coat is finished! Photos to follow. I found a large gray women's wool/cashmere overcoat at a charity shop for £1, and cut the pattern pieces from it. I bought a large red men's shirt to use as the lining at the same shop also for £1, but ended up using one of Partner's dress shirts, dark gold, instead. Finally, again for £1, I bought a women's blazer for the eight big buttons it had. I already had the thread and interfacing at home. Total cost for this coat: £3. Total sewing time, from cutting out to finishing: 7 days.

It's not perfect, but I think I'm the only one who notices its flaws--and even I don't notice them unless I'm looking. Franklin wore it for the first time today and received several compliments. Parter said he looks like a proper little gent. It made me glow inside.

Next up for my sewing adventures, is a wool stroller cover for winter use. I've already got my wool, and you guessed it: it cost me £1. I love that shop. All the clothes there are £1; I think it's where they send all the stuff that wouldn't sell for normal prices, so a lot of it's kind of out-dated and/or ugly/slightly damaged. But that doesn't matter if you're just going to cut it up!

Partner says he's going to dig up some more lawn this winter to extend our vegetable bed. I've been calculating how much veg we'd need to grow to be self-sufficient throughout the year. For instance, we use about one head of garlic per week and about four or five onions. That's a lot! I've planted around fifty garlic cloves this autumn, in hopes they'll grow into big fat bulbs next summer. I haven't had much success with onions, but I'm going to give it another shot next spring.

We also use about one or two kilos of potatoes a week. Next year we're planning on growing most of them in those big sacks, and maybe a few in the ground. That should leave room for other vegetables to grow in the beds, like zuccini, carrots, broccoli, cabbage, and beans. Finally, my neighbor promised I could use her greenhouse next year, so if it's still available, I will pack it with tomatoes.